Home Blog Page 7467

Gujarat govt doesn’t need to rebuild religious shrines damaged in Gujarat riots, rules SC

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Gujarat govt doesn’t need to rebuild religious shrines damaged in Gujarat riots, rules SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a 2012 order passed by the Gujarat High Court which instructed the state government to either compensate or fund the restoration of religious shrines which were destroyed during the 2002 Gujarat riots. These shrines which were mostly mosques were reportedly destroyed due to an alleged failure to maintain law and order.

The 2012 order by the Gujarat HC was based on a 2003 plea filed by a certain Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat (IRCG). In this order the High Court had directed the state to pay actual compensation based on the district judges’ assessment of damage to over 500 shrines during the post-Godhra riots. This order was subsequently challenged by the state government.

The Supreme Court overturned the decision after the state government proposed that they would give the same compensation amount to the religious shrines which was given to residential and commercial properties, thereby treating them at-par with other properties.

This already prevelant compensation scheme involves paying a fixed amount of Rs 50,000 for any damaged property and would now be applicable to religious structures as well. According to the report, the Supreme Court had expressed reservations about the High Court’s judgement by asking as to would it be proper for a secular State to provide compensation for rebuilding places of worship.

The additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who represented the state government had cited article 27 to further his case which states that:

No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religions denomination

Incidentally according to reports, the Central government’s Home Ministry had during the trial told the apex court that the obligation regarding the case was to be fixed with the State government and it was answerable to the court as public order and policing are state subjects.

Dear liberals, bullets are not for your agenda

Sambit Nayak
-
0
Dear liberals, bullets are not for your agenda

Leftist media and politicians are not exactly known for their honesty and sincerity. Their endless hypocrisy was once again on public spectacle as the Panchkula situation unfolded on Friday evening. While some of them invented arguments on behalf of right wing to place themselves on moral high ground, others took it to more crass level by brazenly asking for blood of the mob.

As former J&K chief minister insinuated that the security forces use indiscriminate force only against J&K youths, NDTV ‘journalist’ Nidhi Razdan asked where are the pellet guns.


Barkha played a little safer by bringing in the humanitarian angle in her that she does not wish pellet guns to be used on anyone, but security forces and political establishment of India are partisan to use it against J&K crowd only.


Eminent coup theorist Shekhar Gupta, who at occasions doubles up security expert, cracked it immediately even as the situation was evolving. He seems to have concluded that forces are giving mob a free run by “retreating”.


One senior assistant editor at The Hindu, passed the final judgment on “When to use Pellet guns”


Their hypocrisy has so many layers that I am confused on where to begin. But let me give it a try.

On any security situation, be it a mob, be it a terror strike, aren’t the security forces working on ground the best judge of course of action. Aren’t they trained for when to retreat and when to go on offence? Or do our ‘security experts’ know better?

Why not leave it to the people who are trained to handle this situation? What is the need of running commentary in the middle of an evolving situation? The people dealing with it on the ground know better. Mob control is a very specific security situation RAF, CISF and CRPF are trained to deal with. Guess Shekhar Gupta is trained to comment about it only.

Aren’t these very liberals double up as human right activists during Kashmir unrest? Aren’t Panchkula mob humans whose blood you were baying for?

And NO dear liberals, unlike how you would want it to be, bullets, real or pellets or rubber, are not used for propaganda or agenda.

There are situations where it has to be used and we trust our forces with that. Bullet is not a political tool. If they have used a particular type of gun for specific situation, they know exactly what they are doing. They deal with human lives, not opinionated editorials in Washington Post. Guns are not here to prove a political point. Don’t stoop so low in your hatred.

I am in no way saying that security forces at Panchkula should not have used guns. As I said, I trust forces on ground who are dealing with the situation to be the best judge. Clearly the mob posed a threat and security personnel did their best to bring the situation under control.

However, I would like to see the humanitarian in Barkha to visit “victims” of Panchkula as she did when “youths of Kashmir” were injured with pellet guns. Of course the humanitarian in Barkha must consider both to be equal human beings.

Barkha with pellet gun patient

Lastly, it baffles me beyond shock, that these people are actually drawing a parallel between blind followers of a thug Godmen and over ground supporters of dreaded terrorist organisations like LeT and JuD. Are you guys for real? I am at a loss of words for commenting on this. The latter, for heaven’s sake, are Goddamn TERRORISTS. You surely understand the difference, don’t you?

Final submission: If it satisfies your blood thirsty ego, real bullets were used causing 38 deaths and sedition charges have been invoked on the rioters. Hope that gives a sense of relief and a good night’s sleep.

Sleep dear liberals as our security forces are guarding you, those who have not sold their guns to propagandists. Whose guns don’t fire as per convenience. Hope one day, I can say the same about you.

Now a Sunni cleric calls for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Now a Sunni cleric calls for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya

On 8th August the Shia Wakf Board had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court where it had called for the construction of Ram Temple at the Janmbhoomi area while stating that a Mosque could be built in a Muslim dominated area at a reasonable distance from Lord Ram’s birth place.

As a result of this affidavit, conclusions were drawn that the Shia community was largely in favour of the constructing the Ram Temple and it meant that the opposition was largely limited to the Sunni groups including the Sunni Wakf Board which incidentally owns the disputed land.

Now it seems that even Sunni clerics are warming up to the idea of the Ram Temple after it has been reported that a Sunni Cleric of Kichocha Sharif in Faizabad district has called for its construction.

The Cleric named Syeed Mohammed Irfan reported stated that if the Muslim community became united to construct the Ram Temple, it would send a clear message of unity, peace and brotherhood to the world. He also was reportedly quoted as saying that, just as the birthplace of Prophet Muhammed is in Mecca, likewise Lord Ram’s birthplace is in Ayodhya.

Hence he further stated that not only should Muslims relinquish their claim from Ram Janmabhoomi, they should also actively take part in making the magnificent Ram Temple. He also claimed that as it is a Mosque could not be built on a disputed site.

The Sunni cleric had reportedly made his statements during a press conference organised by the Rashtriya Muslim Manch. Also according to the Cleric, the Muslim community wasn’t aware about all the facts of the matter which had resulted in religious leaders taking its advantage to mislead them.

He then claimed that people had now started to become aware and soon there would be a construction of the temple in the disputed site as even the courts have stated that the matter should be resolved amicably via talks between the two communities.

 

Did Haryana Police abandon Dy Comm. Gauri Parasher Joshi to fend for herself?

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Did Haryana Police abandon Dy Comm. Gauri Parasher Joshi to fend for herself?

On Sunday, Chandigarh Tribune carry a story that claimed Deputy Commissioner Gauri Parasher Joshi was left to “fend for herself” after the Dera followers took to violence following conviction of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2002 rape case.

The headline on the web story has since been changed, but the epaper carries the original headline which claims that after being outnumbered by the rampaging Dera followers, Haryana Police fled the spot, leaving Parasher Joshi to fend for herself. The report claims that it was her experience of having served in Naxal-affected district of Kalahandi in Odisha that helped her save her life and the situation too.

Nowhere in the article does it have a quote from the officer where she claims that the Haryana Police abandoned her amidst the violent crowd.

A vigilant Twitter user and an IPS officer himself, Hemant Pandey, tweeted a video where it seems that the police is trying to shield her and escort her to safety from the unruly mob.


He further clarifies that the police in the video aren’t really ‘escaping’ but taking cover from the stone-pelting mob.


He even explains how truth gets distorted by partial reporting.


Perhaps we need to hear Parasher Joshi’s side of the story too on what exactly happened.

Doklam: How India’s determination reduced China to the level of a Twitter troll

Abhishek Banerjee
-
0
Doklam: How India’s determination reduced China to the level of a Twitter troll

When talking about the dragon, there is always the obvious danger of speaking too soon. But it has to be remarked that while India has held its line with quiet determination, China’s response has become more and more comical. What is that old saying about barking dragons seldom … ? Anyways…

When the standoff in Doklam began, the Chinese establishment threatened us with war everywhere from Kashmir to Uttarakhand to Sikkim to Arunachal. The Global Times began a daily ritual where this or that Chinese “expert” would rant about China’s overwhelming military superiority.

Indians who grew up in the 90s are probably familiar with this kind of internet flame bait. They were a primitive form of trolling that Pakistanis used to post on Rediff’s message boards. Those were the days…

One of the more comical lows was reached when another Chinese “expert” warned of a “small scale military operation within two weeks” in which they would seize Indian soldiers in Doklam. The “expert” even went on to say that the Chinese government would inform the Indian Foreign Ministry before the operation.

One wonders how the “expert” forgot to give us the exact date and hour of the attack.

It is difficult to take such troll posts seriously for too long.

For a while now, the Chinese have been remarkably insecure about India, overreacting to the smallest things. For instance, nobody in India would have even noticed that a recent NASA image made India look brighter than China. That is unless the People’s Daily (official mouthpiece of the Communist Party) went out of its way to assure the Chinese people that their country has more electricity than India does!

Untitled.png

What makes these tantrums look comical is that most Indians already concede readily the massive economic and military edge that China enjoys over India. Instead of speaking like the hefty superpower that most Indians perceive China to be, why is China reduced to speaking like Zaid Hamid?

I swear to God that some of those Global Times “editorials” were one step away from threatening “Ghazwa-e-Hind” and promising to establish “Radio China Delhi”.

If I remember correctly, that guy was considered too embarrassing even for Pakistan television after a while. It is anyone’s guess why China wants to speak in a manner that would leave even Pakistanis squirming.

After threatening to blow India to bits, the Chinese finally attacked … with stones!

Untitled.png

The supposedly professional army of a wannabe superpower reduced to the modus operandi of common terrorists and common criminals? Was this planned or plain indiscipline in the ranks of the Chinese Army? I am almost embarrassed for the Chinese here.

So the Chinese tried it all : from childish threats to troll posts on the internet to pelting stones. You know they are out of ideas when they made this painfully stupid video.

Untitled.png

No real response is needed to this one, because the Chinese themselves have done a fantastic job of turning themselves into a worldwide laughing stock.

Aware of the PR disaster with the first video, the Chinese came back with a second video which they feel will finally turn the tide for the ‘heroic’ PLA.

All this while, India has stood calm and sober. Unwilling to be drawn into silly verbal clashes about whose daddy is stronger. The Chinese have been reduced from threatening war to small scale military operation within two weeks… to making racist videos. India’s determination has reduced China to the level of a Twitter troll.

This just in : The second video seems to have failed as well in shaking India’s determination. Imagine that!

Disengagement of border personnel of India AND China. After promising to make war on us everywhere from Ladakh to Arunachal to Sikkim to Andamans … perhaps all the way to the Moon and Mars.

It is now for the Chinese government to explain to their people how they and their ‘heroic’ PLA fought like valiant Twitter trolls, only to fold up having to make “necessary changes”.

Oh, one more thing. With Doklam successfully demilitarized, a small group back home in India has lost face as well. I will not name them, because they know well in their hearts who they are. But they are welcome, as always, to celebrate our national achievement.

Doklam standoff finally ends with China compromising on its belligerent stand

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Doklam standoff finally ends with China compromising on its belligerent stand

The long publicised and high profile Doklam standoff finally looked like flickering out after India’s Ministry of External Affairs in an official statement claimed that the standoff had ended:

As written in the press release, India stated that diplomatic relations are very much intact between India and China and as a result of that it was agreed that the troops would disengage from the face-off site and it was already in motion.

According to reports the two month long stand-off was mutually agreed upon by India and China. It also claimed that India had conveyed to China via back channels that PM Modi may not travel to the BRICS summit in China if the Doklam issue was not resolved. This would have resulted in an embarrassment to China as according to BRICS charter, the summit cannot take place unless all the heads of the 5 member countries were attending.

Interestingly rather than taking India’s olive branch to felicitate normal relations, the Chinese foreign ministry claimed that they would continue to patrol the area. This led to some speculation as to whether India is in for an embarrassment due to the Chinese not backing off. They though acknowledged that China would make necessary adjustments and deployments as per the changes.

This thankfully was not true as according to various security analysts the main point of dispute was not border patrol but was China constructing a road in the region. This construction as a result was to stop which has reportedly been agreed to by China. The patrolling which is being used as a pivot by China to assert its victory was already reportedly happening before the dispute started. This revelation meant that there was no sort of unilateral withdrawal by India.

Tenzing Lamsang the Editor In Chief of The Bhutanese, called this deescalation a relief for Bhutan and also claimed that Bhutan would adopt a wait and watch approach and not do anything which would wreck the current deal.

Triple talaq petitioner writes to Mamata, alleges police inaction regarding her safety

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Triple talaq petitioner writes to Mamata, alleges police inaction regarding her safety

Triple talaq petitioner from West Bengal, Ishrat Jahan, who has been facing threats and social boycott from family and neighbours, has reached out to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking protection. In a letter written to Banerjee, Ishrat accuses West Bengal Police of inaction against the threats she has been receiving.

In her letter she requests the CM to provided security to her and her children since she has been facing lot of hostility after the Supreme Court pronounced instant triple talaq unconstitutional.

Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners in the landmark Supreme Court verdict which pronounced instant triple talaq invalid, is facing social boycott and character assassination back home in Howrah, West Bengal. Jahan has been allegedly facing social boycott and insinuations and is being ostracised by her in-laws and neighbours in Howrah’s Pilkhana.

30 year old Jahan’s husband divorced her in 2015 over the phone from Dubai and allegedly took awayher 4 children. In her fight for social justice, she has faced financial losses and now she has to face abuses as she is called “dirty woman”, “enemy of men” and “anti-Islam”.

In her letter to the CM, she writes,

I am not demanding nor have I ever demanded justice or financial support from the government. But in this fight, the state government and the police have not helped me in any way and that is why I am disappointed. But for my safety and security I want that police should help me.

If there is any incident (attempts made at my life) or anything happens to my two children then the entire blame for this lies with the police department. I hope that being a woman you will definitely help another woman.

A copy of the letter was also sent to  Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the chairperson of National Commission for Women Lalitha Kumaramangalam and and Howrah Police Commissionerate, among others.

In 2001, when Ishrat was 14, she was married in Bihar, where she and her husband lived before shifting to Pilkhana in Howrah. She was one of the five petitioners who filed a petition in the Supreme Court against triple talaq.

TMC leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury has called the triple talaq verdict ‘unconstitutional’ and said courts can’t interfere in matters of Islam. Mamata, on the other hand, has maintained silence on the verdict.

Kerala ‘love jihad’: NIA suspects same ‘mentor’ lured two girls

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Kerala ‘love jihad’: NIA suspects same ‘mentor’ lured two girls

Following the Supreme Court order to probe the ‘love jihad’ case in Kerala, the preliminary probe by National Investigative Agency (NIA) has revealed a common link between two instances where Hindu girls were persuaded to embrace Islam. A common “mentor”, Sainaba, associated with the radical group Popular Front of India, “lured” Athira and Akhila into accepting Islam.

In the report, based on a probe by Kerala Police, NIA states common accused in both the cases:

Athira was supposedly lured by Akhila’s “mentor” Sainaba into embracing Islam with the help of activists linked to Islamic outfits PFI, SDPI and Markazul Hidaya ‘Sathyasarani’. Some of Sainaba’s associates figure in both cases.

NIA report further states another link between the two cases. One Mohammad Kutty, a PFI-SDPI activist who had approached Akhila’s friend’s father Aboobacker, along with Sainaba and Aliyar, allegedly took Akhila away from her family for pursuing Islamic studies. Kutty and Sainaba are co-conspirators in the Athira case and was arrested for illegally confining Athira.

It is understood that the NIA has informed the SC that Akhila’s “conversion” and marriage were not isolated incidents but part of an organised effort by Kerala-based PFI, SDPI and Sathyasarani.

The report by Times of India further states:

As per the NIA report, Kozhikode-based Therbiyatul Islam Sabha (TIS), recognised by the Kerala government, had issued a “conversion certificate” to Akhila in 2016 stating she had successfully completed its Islamic course on July 25, 2016. However, it was found that she never studied at TIS, but only took the exam held after the course.

It was also revealed that persons involved in sheltering Akhila in January 2016 — Sainaba, Muhammad Basheer, Muhammed Kutty, Nasarudeen — are all connected with Sathyasarani and PFI-SDPI.

In May the Kerala High Court had declared the particular marriage between the girl and a man named Shafin Jahan null and void on the petition of her father Ashokan, who is a retired army-man. The girl now named Hadiya used to be a homeopathy student when she converted and changed her name. The girl was reportedly given away in marriage by her guardian named Sainaba and her husband.

The father had then alleged that she was forced to convert after being abducted and wrongly confined at an illegal Islamic conversion centre before her so called marriage on December 19th 2016. There were further alleged that the Sathya Sarani girls hostel, the illegal conversion centre in question and was run by the Popular Front of India, which was founded by the leaders of the terrorist organisation SIMI.

The Kerala High Court had then stated that the marriage was a sham and had no standing in front of the law. The court then had also granted the custody of the girl to her parents and directed the police to provide protection to the family.

The husband in question had then knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court to challenge the annulment of his marriage. He was represented by eminent lawyers named Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising. According to Sibal, the girl had converted to Islam before she had met the boy via a matrimonial site. The lawyers also insisted the girl in question be brought in front of the court.

The Supreme Court had then sought the response of the NIA in the matter before scheduling the next hearing on 16th August. The Court had also directed the Kerala Police to hand over the files related to the case to the NIA.

It has been speculated via intelligence reports that there have been a total of 5793 conversions to Islam in Kerala between 2011 and 2015 out of which about 4719 were Hindus and rest were Christians. Incidentally the conversions were happening in two center named Tharbiyathul Islam Sabha in Kozhikode and Monunsthil Islam Sabha in Ponnani, both of which were reportedly ‘authorized’ by the state to carry out this activity.

MP cop who saved the lives of 400 children by carrying away a bomb, awarded by state govt

Hemant Bijapurkar
-
0
MP cop who saved the lives of 400 children by carrying away a bomb, awarded by state govt

Head constable Abhishek Patel has recently been winning hearts after it was reported on Friday about how he had heroically ran a whole Kilometre with a 10 Kg live bomb on his shoulder after it was found near a school. This effort by him to take the explosive away, reportedly helped save the lives of about 400 children. The shell of the bomb which belongs to the army was still live and yet to be diffused. This incident happened at Chitora village of Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh.

His heroics received popular attention when clips of him running with the bomb went viral:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzOaWX2zA10]

Abhishek (40) when asked about his motivation behind his brave act reportedly stated that when he reached at the spot he saw schoolkids playing near the spot where the bomb was lying. He suddenly saw the kids and without thinking anymore, picked up the bomb and made a dash. He also stated that the values inculcated his father who also was a police officer, were instrumental in him making the decision. His father reportedly used to say to him that a person is a real policeman when he/she takes an initiative to execute an action during a time time of peril.

He also explained his decision to run a Kilometre with a bomb by stating that a few months prior to the incident he was part of another police operation regarding a similar bomb and there and was told that an explosion would impact an area of 500 m in radius.

According to reports, there’s an army shooting range near the village but it could not be ascertained as to how did it end up near the school. In this army range mortars, ammunition shells and other weaponry are tested. During such tests some of the bombs don’t explode and fall in distant fields as a result these misused bombs keep getting discovered by the villagers.

After Abhishek’s heroic efforts, the bomb disposal squads of both the army and the police reached the spot but failed to carry out a controlled explosion on Saturday due to various technicalities which included their insistence on getting permissions from administrative officials and the subsequent failure in getting them. The explosion was finally carried out at 11:30 AM on Sunday which resulted in a black cloud of smoke emanating from the region and noise which was heard for kilometres.

As a result of his heroics, a reward of Rs 50,000 was announced by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan for Head Constable Abhishek Patel. A reward is certainly the least with the state administration can do for Abhishek but it also needs to be ascertained as to how can such incidents of misused bombs falling near civilian buildings be prevented in the future.

Twitter reacts to Lalu’s ‘morphed’ photo from his Patna rally

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Twitter reacts to Lalu’s ‘morphed’ photo from his Patna rally

On Sunday, opposition parties united in Patna, Bihar in a show of strength against the BJP. In a rally organised by Lalu Yadav’s RJD, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav were also in attendance.

In middle of the rally, RJD supremo and convict in the the fodder scam, Lalu Yadav tweeted a picture of what seemed like an aerial view of the Gandhi Maidan fully packed with party supporters.

The first to call out the lies of Lalu Yadav was news agency ANI.

Not to be discouraged Lalu’s son and former deputy CM of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav compared the crowd to stars, which are also uncountable.

But by then, the twitterati had gone in overdrive making jokes at Lalu’s expense.

Some leaked the Game of Thrones spoilers,

While others proudly showed off their Photoshop skills as respect to RJD’s Photoshop expert.

Some even ridiculed it for just bad Photoshop.

And some took this opportunity to remind Yadav about his past criminal record.

People even laughed at anti-corruption crusader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s expense who had extended his support to the convicted politician.

1...7,4667,4677,468...7,677Page 7,467 of 7,677